JUNE EVENT: CAMP

[sailmods]

early on June 10th, Friday's morning announcements end with a request for everyone going on the latest excursion to meet her in the atrium. she seems in noticeably better spirits than she had been last time, and she leads them cheerfully to the tender. once they are all aboard, and the door is securely shut, the interior fills with gas, and, perhaps, their last thought before they slip into unconsciousness is "oh shit, not again."

passengers wake up on a rickety old school bus, driving down a dirt road surrounded by woods. what is it that they notice first? that, no matter what they were wearing before, they are now wearing a camp t-shirt and legitimately horrifyingly short shorts? the overstuffed backpack between their knees? the words "take one down and pass it around" dying on their lips? the fact that Friday is absolutely driving the bus?

or, maybe the fact that it's already slowing down, pulling up in front of a massive wooden sign, saying:

 

 

 

 

 

CAMP AION

when they get out of the bus, Friday is the one to divide them up into their cabin groups, and she is the one to give the counselors their very official-looking clipboards and whistles. she explains that they are in charge, and that she will be back to pick them up in a week, and... very little else. she responds to nothing outside of whatever is on her unseen little script, and she gets back on the bus shortly after, leaving them there.

welcome to camp. let's make some summer memories!

Comments

NO BOYS ALLOWED

[decohere]

1. There's a sign on the door of Aquarius cabin that goes up while they're out at breakfast, which Ava does not attend. 'NO BOYS ALLOWED' it proclaims in craft paint.

The cabin has been rigged with all sorts of security traps, with supplies raided from the crafts and kitchen.

Did you leave something inside that you wanted? Too bad.

2. She's barricaded the door and windows with the bunks, and piled the mattresses into a makeshift fort in the corner. She's determined to be left alone.

But. There's all sorts of sounds of activity and fun(?) being had outside. And Ava keeps peeking out the window, gazing longingly.

[iattractmushi]

What happened to them being adults about this. Ginko kind of stares at the sign for a minute before sighing and walking off to sit on a stump nearby. At least he brought his backpack to breakfast.

...he really wants a cigarette.

[decohere]

(What happened to being adults about this is that Ava woke up that morning to discover she started her period. And she's way too embarrassed to admit it. So she's kicked them all out instead. SORRY.)

[broshaw]

Noooooo. He's full of waffles and trying to stave off the Super Withdrawal Headache he's been fighting sine yesterday afternoon, and now he can't even go change his sweaty ass shirt? Fucking miserable, dude.

Soooo he definitely scratches at the door like a dog. "Avaaaaa...." He whines like one, too! "Ava, my shirt's all sweaty, come onnnn."

[decohere]

She's going to ignore it at first. Because she's got to stay strong and stand her ground and... not feel so guilty about it. Maybe it's the pitiful whining. She always wanted a dog.

Ava groans, keeps scribbling away in her notebook, but Sharky is a persistent bastard and fine. "GO WASH OFF IN THE LAKE!" she shouts through the door.

[broshaw]

He wonders if he can use his alcohol withdrawal as, like, a medical exemption from being considered one of the "boys." He's, like, so far out of the "boy" range right now, he's barely even a "human!"

"Just throw it to me!" Ughhhhh. He can't even blame her, TBH. He knows he snores like a monster truck, and he bets he's not the only one. "I can understand four random dudes aren't the best cabinmates but c'mooonnn, this shirt smells like flop sweat and maple syrup!"

[decohere]

Right, she barely got any sleep the night before, and she's got other reasons to be grumpy on top of it.

But none of that is really Sharky's fault. Well, maybe the snoring. He's lucky she didn't smother him with a pillow.

She doesn't even know what flop sweat is. She's not sure she wants to know. But the mention of maple syrup makes her aware that she hasn't eaten.

Ava gets up, shuffles toward one of the backpacks. She's not actually sure whose shirt she grabs, it looks man-sized enough.

"Fine. But you have to bring me a sandwich in exchange." Ava shoves her arm and the shirt through the door, realizing that yes he could just take it and go, but...

[broshaw]

Sharky also doesn't know if the shirt is his or not, because he didn't actually pack any of the clothes. What he does know is that there's an arm sticking through the door, which is both horrifying and also cool as hell???

"Holy shit," he says, and then grabs his shirt before she yanks her hand back. He totally wants to ask, but obviously, he's got more important things to worry about. "Uh... Y-Yeah, I can do that. You, uh... you want anything special?" His heart, maybe? On rye with a side of pickles?

[decohere]

Her fingers twitch slightly, before her arm quickly retracts back through the door, leaving behind no evidence of it being anything but solid.

Ava's quiet for a moment as she considers, leaning against the door, wanting to come out with everyone else and explore the camp and do activities with her friends. But no, she's crampy and tired and annoyed and everything seems far too unfair.

"Peanut butter and jelly...?"

[broshaw]

He does a little fist pump because yesssss, that is a super easy request to fulfill! He is going to win at summer camp. He's going to win all of the summer camps!
And you know what? Going to make Ava a sandwich is like, totally feminist of him, which means he's double winning. (He'll take anything he can get with this monster Hangover from Hell going on right now.)

"You got it, lady-boss," he says, workshopping one of many nicknames Ava will eventually retain when his brain forgets her actual name. It's better to just get that ball rolling now. He... forgets to ask for specifics, of course, which he only realizes once he's power-walked back to the mess hall and is faced with 2 styles of JIF and at least 5 different kinds of jellies. All the bread seems to be Wonderbread, though. Weird!

When Sharky returns to the cabin, he's got a paper plate with a truly gooey PB&J just for Ava. And an apple! Because you're, like, supposed to have a balanced breakfast or whatever. He knocks on the door and announces his presence with a sing-song, "Look who's got a sammy for Ava!" Because let's be honest, the guy's still a fucking MILF at the end of the day and he knows how to entice a stubborn kid to come eat!!!!

[decohere]

I's not that he's even gone that long, but it's enough time that Ava's already convinced herself that Sharky isn't coming back and she isn't getting a sandwich and everyone hates her and that's entirely her own fault for being a bad counselor and a bad friend. She's back to gazing out one of the windows again, trying to see if she can spot one of her friends having fun so she can be irrationally jealous about it, when she hears her name called.

Oh.

Ava pushes the bunk she has barricaded against the door out of the way, just enough so she can finally open it.

It's probably a trap.

Except there's the sandwich. Ava peeks around to see if Sharky has the other campers with pitchforks on standby to reclaim the cabin. But it's just him.

She gives a wobbly sort of smile, accepting the plate. "Are they mad...?"

[broshaw]

There's no mob of angry people, just Sharky in his sweaty shirt holding breakfast out for her. He's got the other shirt tucked in the hem of his shorts, for after he falls face-first into the lake.

"Who? The other dudes?" He definitely saw Ginko storm off, but that guy is like, always in a bad mood for some reason. (The reason is that you fucking tackled him, you moron!) "They'll be fine, it's like, totally whatever. Here, you gotta eat something before you, like, counsel us and shit." He sticks out both hands -- one with the plate, one with the apple. "Or not, because, uh, fuck authority." He's trying okay.

[decohere]

"Fuck authority," Ava agrees. "I don't know how to counsel anyone," Ava sulks, before taking a bite out of the corner of the sandwich. And yes, there's a smear of jelly that gets on her chin.

She wants to have fun. But she's sure everyone else is having more fun without her. It's not like she has any real right to tell them what to do, just because of a clipboard and a whistle.

She chews for a moment. "There's a hair in this."

[latersgators]

"Miss Ava?" He's guessing it's her that did this, considering she's the only non-boy in their group. He knocks on the door a few times.

"Miss Ava? Are you in there?" He tries to peek in through the window but there's only the bedframes barring their entry. He knocks again a few times, this time against the window.

"Will you talk to me? Is something the matter?" It's Steven, bear negotiator. Of course he wants to talk.

[decohere]

Ava doesn't want to talk. She wants to write in her notebook about all the fun she's having at camp, the task she suggested everyone in the cabin participate in. That she doubts anyone else is even going to attempt, because it's a stupid idea.

The problem is, she hasn't been having any fun. She recounts the bear drill, and then stares at the rest of the blank page.

And then starts filling it in with lies.

Our team came in third in the canoe race...
Undine and I went swimming and she found an old boot in the lake...
Malcolm and I held hands by the fire and he gave me his marshmallow...
Max and I made matching friendship bracelets...
Lucius got himself covered in craft glitter...
Skulduggery and I found the highest tree to climb but then I fell...

She ignores the knocking at the door.

Poor Clarke got poison ivy and is an itchy red mess...

And for a moment she thinks Steven has given up. And then there's knocking right outside the window and she groans.

"What?" Ava sticks her head through the wall of the cabin, right next to the window because she doesn't want to be knocked in the face, glaring. She expects he's going to have some sort of pretentious lecture and she's not really in the mood to hear it.

[latersgators]

He had no idea that she could do that so when he hears her voice outside next to him his eyes widen and when he turns to see her he freaks out. He shrieks and falls back on his butt, might have lost his left bollock in the process as his shorts ride up even higher, scrambling backwards away from her.

He definitely had something he wanted to ask like why the sign and what's wrong and why she's barricaded herself in and what can he do to help but all that well-meant concern had flown straight out the window.

"Wh-- wha-- you died while we were out for breakfast?!" Steven wails.

[decohere]

"Yes," Ava replies somberly, which is quite a feat trying not to giggle while Steven scrambles back. Especially since he needs to pick those shorts out of his crack.

"I died."

[latersgators]

Steven frowns deeply and lowers his head, swallowing a lump in his throat. He's able to stop the waterworks and he's quite proud of that too, but his resolve is starting to crack when he's not able to hold back a sob.

"I'm so sorry! We let you down. I didn't know you were-- I didn't even-- eat anything at breakfast, everything had egg and milk in it, I just-- I was-- Marc-- you--" Steven starts hyperventilating, chest rising and falling with laboured breaths.

[decohere]

"What's you not eating breakfast got to do with me dying?" Ava wonders. "What's Marc got to do with it?" What is he even blabbering about.

She remembers he's a vegan though and that breakfasts are indeed heavy on the egg and milk, and wants to suggest they go out into the woods looking for berries or mushrooms or whatever, but she doesn't remember anything edible on the Battle Royale island so it'd probably be a waste of time. And knowing their luck they'd likely end up poisoning this poor guy. Who looks like he's about to have a stroke or a panic attack or... maybe his blood sugar is real low.

"Oh stop that, I've already died once. Not that big a deal."

[latersgators]

"I could have come back earlier!! Instead of faffing around with Marc!!!" he whines. And then he would have caught her murderer in the act and they'd have both gotten murdered. Fat lot of good that would have done. But at least he wouldn't feel so horrified and twisted up and guilty inside.

"We've all died once! This was preventable! What happened?!" He's-- not going to avenge her death like some Kurosawa historical drama. But if someone's running around killing people he needs to go find them and stop them somehow.

[decohere]

"What happened, is that a long time ago Dr. Pym invented all sorts of stupidly dangerous ways to fuck with physics," Ava sighs, because he's taking all the fun out of even faking being dead. Why's he always so dramatic. Why's he even acting like he cares.

"Nobody killed me, Steven, I'm just like this." One of her arms pokes out of the wall to do a vague up and down gesture.

[latersgators]

Nobody's just like that. He moves his head back a bit, watching her arm with an unhealthy amount of confusion and doubt, and then he averts his gaze, pulling his hands in to cover his tummy.

"Did the doctor do something to you?" That's... horrible. He looks at Ava again, and then his gaze strays yet again.

"Does it hurt?"

[decohere]

Ava sighs, stepping all the way through the cabin she'd been guarding so fiercely, into the grass with bare feet. "Did he? No, not directly. Was he responsible, yes. For the chain reaction of events that would occur. And he never even knew I existed, until recently," she sounds far less bitter than she used to, just resigned. It's hard to carry the grudge against the man now.

"Yes, it hurts. Every moment of my life, every movement of my body, it all hurts. It's been worse. Much, much worse. But I've been informed it won't get any worse, so I won't bother complaining much about it." She's not going to lie either, act like she's simply okay.

"You should get off the ground. It's a vulnerable position."

[latersgators]

His eyebrows knit together when she says that it hurts, and he bites down on his bottom lip, swallowing. Of course it hurts. Just because it won't get better doesn't mean she doesn't feel bad. There's nothing anyone can really do about it either. Not on the boat at least. It's not like they have medication for this kind of affliction. And she doesn't have a Steven Grant she can get to front for her when the pain gets to be too much once in a while.

His eyes dart around as if he can just find a solution hiding in the grass. But there isn't really one. People just do things in their hubris. And other people pay for the madness. That's just how the world has always been.

Steven hesitates before moving to stand, slowly, awkwardly, tugging his shorts down.

"How can we make it more... tolerable for you? You know you-- don't have to be alone." Even if she can't share the burden of her pain with anyone else.

[decohere]

Ava wraps her arms a bit protectively around her middle, watching Steven search for some sort of empty platitude or solution that isn't there. She already regrets telling him, hates being treated like she's some wounded animal needing tending to.

"There's nothing you can do, other than stay away," Ava tells him with a sigh. "I prefer to be alone. I don't like sharing my space with so many people, especially ones I don't know nor trust. And ones that clearly don't like me either. I got no sleep and the longer I go without any sleep the worse I'm going to treat all of you, and it's mutually beneficial we just avoid that."